01.02.2017

30% revenue dip for Manitowoc

Manitowoc has posted its full year results which show a 30 percent fall in fourth quarter revenues but also lower losses.

Looking first of all at the full year revenues were $1.61 billion around 14 percent down on 2015, while pre-tax losses more than doubled to $268.1 million.

Looking at the fourth quarter however revenues were just over 30 percent lower at $378.2, primarily due to continued weak demand in North America and the Middle East, partially offset by growth in the European market, spurred on by new product introductions. The pre-tax losses were reduced slightly from $38.2 last year to $34.6 million this year.

The backlog/order book at the end of December was $323.8 million just over eight percent down on this time last year.

Chief executive Barry Pennypacker said: “During the fourth quarter we experienced demand levels consistent with prior year trends with sequential improvement in revenue as well as incoming orders. Our mobile orders in the Americas and the Middle East were affected by continued low rental rates, weakness in used equipment prices and continued low oil prices. Our tower crane business continued to perform as expected, mainly attributable to positive market sentiment in Europe complemented by our new product introductions. While the global crane market continues to be dynamic, we remain cautiously optimistic about the long-term market fundamentals.”

“Our management team delivered a substantial improvement in operational working capital in the quarter which allowed us to completely pay down our outstanding revolver balance. This would not have been possible without the structured approach that The Manitowoc Way provides for operational excellence. As a result, we saw a significant improvement in our net debt position during the quarter.”

“We remain committed to achieving our long-term goals of double digit operating margins by 2020, investing appropriately for market growth, continuing to be a market leader in innovation and increasing the velocity in all our business processes. Executing on these strategic priorities will enable us to be the market leader in lifting technology as judged by our customers, shareholders and employees.”

Vertikal Comment

It is hard to determine anything from these numbers the company has put a massive effort this year into restructuring with some major changes. But pressures continue with the low oil price a sluggish home market and increased competition.

The company has some good new products and strong brand names but it needs to consolidate the changes and gather some momentum with an outward customer centred approach. It needs to be going into the new year with both guns blazing and a twelfth of the year has already gone.
Conexpo will be a very important show for the Manitowoc group.